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Friday the thirteenth lived up to its ominous reputation as far as the Euro is concerned. The common currency of a union long haunted by financial inviability hit lows not seen in 17 months today driven by S&P sovereign downgrade rumors and halted talks on Greek debt. To a lesser extent,...

2011 has been a tough year for the Euro Zone countries. The sovereign debt crisis has shaken investors' confidence in the Euro currency and bond yields of a number of Sothern European countries have been at record highs. These red flags have been big enough to catch credit agencies attention too...

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi told the European Parliament on Thursday that the eurozone must become more integrated. Draghi said that the most important step in leading the eurozone out of its current sovereign debt crisis would be to create a new "shared fiscal compact" in which...

Moody's Investors Service announced on Tuesday that the subordinated debt of 87 banks from 15 European countries is at risk of downgrade. Moody's blamed the possible bank downgrades on the reduced likelihood that the banks would receive state support in the event of a banking collapse. Eurozone...

Italian government 3-year bond yields reached euro-era highs during the country's latest bond auction. While the Italian government was successful in raising 7.5 billion euros ($10 billion) during the auction, the steep interest rates that it was forced to pay are troubling. The interest rate that...

Moody's Investors Service sounded the alarm early on Monday morning that the credit ratings of all members of the European Union were now at risk because of the financial crisis that has been escalating in Europe for more than a year. The ratings agency said that the financial crisis that has...

Germany is denying reports that Germany, France and four other Eurozone members with triple A credit ratings are reportedly considering issuing "Elite Bonds". According to German magazine Die Welt, the governments of Germany, France, Austria, Finland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands have discussed...

After having its credit rating lowered to junk status, Hungary is the latest European country to see its borrowing costs climb higher. The country was downgraded by Moody's Investors Service from Baa3 to Ba1 with a negative outlook a week after it had to ask the International Monetary Fund ("IMF...

After several months of rising consumer prices, Japan's core consumer price index fell by 0.1% in October, a sign that the country might continue to suffer through deflation. Although the Japanese government blamed the fall in prices on a cigarette tax and insurance premiums that were introduced...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday resisted calls to introduce bonds issued jointly by all eurozone member states. The so-called eurobonds would likely drive down borrowing costs for troubled eurozone members like Greece, Italy and Spain but if that were to happen, logic dictates that...

The Spanish government saw the yield on its 3 month bills more than double in its first debt auction since the People's Party defeated the outgoing Socialist Party in Sunday's election. The Spanish Treasury successfully raised nearly 3 billion euros ($4 billion) during the auction but the...

Hardly a day passes without some news from Europe these days that could potentially move markets. Whether it's Greece backing down on a holding a referendum, Italy's Berlusconi finally resigning, or EFSF buying its own bond due to lack of demand, there's no shortage of drama for the saga....

With the uncertain fate of the Eurozone in the news recently, I thought it would be interesting to discuss some interesting parallels between Europe and the United States of America. Where the thought of a "United States of Europe" may continue to sound like a fantasy, I think it is interesting...

France was warned for the second time this week by a major credit rating agency that its valuable triple-A credit rating could be downgraded in the near future. Standard & Poor's was the latest credit rating agency to say that the eurozone's second biggest economy was in danger of being...

Much of Greece has been shut down for the second day in a row as Greek citizens protest against an upcoming parliamentary vote on yet another round of austerity measures. Passage of the latest round of austerity measures being debated in parliament is necessary in order for the Greek government to...